Being Catholic I was baptized, had my communion, got confirmed and celebrated the sacrament of marriage in a Catholic church. When I was young and attended catechism (weekly Catholic school), my brother and I would go to church every Sunday. Most times, we would walk 20 minutes to Holy Family Parish because my mom would have worked late and dad didn't want to go to church without her.
Being that we were going to catechism and to ensure we would get our sacraments, we needed to attend weekly mass. My brother was even an alter boy (helps the priest prepping for mass and during mass). I wanted to be an alter girl but that wasn't allowed during those time. It wasn't until 1994 that the Vatican okayed girls as alter servers.
When I went to catechism at Holy Family church we had a priest named Father Simon. His sermons were wonderful. I loved listening to him preach as he took the kids into heart. During catechism, he would come and talk in our classes and he told us that "God" is all around us and if we couldn't make it to church, just kneel down and pray, because he hears us. Never to be afraid to pray wherever we are was his teachings.
If little ones were crying during mass and parents were ready to take the baby/child out, Father Simon would tell them the crying didn't bother him and they were welcome to stay in the church. When it came time to give the offering (donation) during mass, he would tell his parish, if you don't have anything to give, don't. You are still welcome here.
Father Simon, is the reason I went to church and didn't care if it was raining or snowing out. He always made everyone feel comfortable in his parish. It is said if a priest, dies at the alter he is meant for sainthood. Father Simon died at the alter when I was 13 years old. Thankfully it wasn't a mass I was attending.
A few things have changed since I was young and it has made it hard to adapt when I attend the new mass, here are some examples:
When we recited the "Our Father", we were to clasp our hands in prayer and bend our head and say the words. Today hands are raised, and in some churches they hold hands and recite the prayer. I still hold to my learnings and bend my head, close my eyes and clasp my hands in prayer.
No one but the priest could touch the holy eucharist (body of Christ) as when I was young we were told the priest in mass is the vessel of Christ himself. Today, anyone can distribute the host, if trained and authorized by a priest. I still hold on to my learnings and only go to a priest to get my eucharist.
Again with not touching the holy eucharist, when we would go up to receive it, we would clasp our hands together, the priest would say "the body of Christ" and we would open our mouth and he would place it in the mouth. Today, priests give the host in hands and up until COVID-19, I could get the host in my mouth, but now it is only given in the hands.
There has been many changes to the wordings in the actual mass that it is hard to keep up.
Gianni and I were avid church goers when our kids were going through catechism, but as changes started to happen in the church, we pulled away. Even though I tried to live by what Father Simon taught me, it was hard to hear how other priests make people feel guilty about not attending church, or stating "don't put change in the offering as it make too much noise." These things made me pull away. However, it didn't mean I didn't have my faith. I continue to pray and kneel wherever I want too, I still do the rosary, and I still believe we are only here in body and soul, but our spirit will forever be alive even after death.
Today, I attended mass at Chiesa Santi Ambrogio e Theodolo in Stresa. It was full of parishioners that you could tell were there just for the mass in its purity. It wasn't a fashion show like some of the churches in Canada.
I loved listening to the priest, who had nothing but good things to say. About making sure we live life helping others, remembering God is all around us in nature and in the air we breath, and to have a wonderful and blessed Sunday and week. What was really cool and I'm sure this is due to COVID-19, when the part of the mass where the priest state "give each other the sign of peace", which usually meant we shook hands with those next to us, today he stated "give each other the eyes of peace". I walked out of mass feeling uplifted and with a little more faith.
Here is a video of the end of the mass where the priest gives his blessings, yes it is in Italian
Video of noon church bells
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